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Vance was born on March 27, 1917 in Clarksburg, West Virginia. His father, John Carl Vance, died of pneumonia in 1922. He had an older brother. His father was an insurance broker and landowner who worked in a government agency during World War I. His mother was Amy Roberts Vance, who had a prominent family history in Philadelphia, and she was active in civic affairs.[2]

At the age of 29, Vance married Grace Elsie "Gay" Sloane on February 15, 1947. She was a Bryn Mawr graduate and was the daughter of the board chairman of the W. & J. Sloane furniture company in New York City. They had five children:

After the Camp David Accords, Vance's influence in the administration began to wane as Brzezinski's rose.[citation needed] His role in talks with People's Republic of China was marginalized, and his advice for a response to the Shah of Iran's collapsing regime was ignored. Shortly thereafter, when 53 American hostages were held in Iran, he worked actively in negotiations but to no avail. Finally, when Carter ordered a secret military rescue—Operation Eagle Claw—Vance resigned in opposition. Vance felt the rescue attempt was too risky, and did not even wait to see its failure before announcing his resignation.[4] The second rescue was planned but never carried out.

In January 1993, as the United Nations Special Envoy to Bosnia, Vance and Lord David Owen, the EU representative, began negotiating a peace plan for the ending the War in Bosnia. The plan was rejected, and Vance announced his resignation as Special Envoy to the UN Secretary-General. He was replaced by Norwegian Foreign Minister Thorvald Stoltenberg.

^ ab"Cyrus R. Vance, a Confidant Of Presidents, Is Dead at 84". New York Times. 13 January 2002. Retrieved 13 October 2012. Cyrus R. Vance, who after two decades in public service was appointed secretary of state, and who then took the rare step of resigning from the nation's highest cabinet post on a matter of principle, died yesterday afternoon at Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. He was 84. The cause was pneumonia and other complications, said Elva Murphy, his longtime secretary.

^"Cyrus was only 5 years old when his father died. In the ensuing years, the boy developed an exceptionally close relationship with his first cousin, best friend and mentor, John W. Davis, who had been a member of Congress, ambassador to Britain and Democratic candidate for president in 1924. It was through Mr. Davis that Mr. Vance said he developed an early interest in the law." (from his NYTimes obituary).

^Sean Wilentz (2008). The Age of Reagan. New York: Harper Collins. p. 119.